Troubled Soul
by Tygra's Kitten Hina
Summary: Something's been troubling Lord Claudus and Jaga sends for the Tygra and Lion-O's nursemaid to figure it out. Claudus/OC. Set in the 2011-verse, before the events in the series.


**Hina: **_I don't own _Thundercats. _But I do own the idea behind this story and everything that isn't apart of the Thundercats_ _universe to begin with._

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><p>There was always something unsatisfying in his soul, something prickling in his heart. It always hurts whenever the memories of his beloved Queen, his soul mate, his wife, his lover, and best friend, surfaced. Sometimes the pain and memories were easy to ignore, but there was always trigger - a reminder of what he lost, whether it was seeing old pictures of his beloved, or smelling faint traces of her favorite Astrid Day Flower perfume, or absentmindedly reaching for her in his sleep, only to wake up and find the empty space next to him.<p>

"They need a mother, Jaga." Claudus said, pacing restlessly around his study. The King had abandoned wearing his large, red cape and usual wear in favor of wearing a simple light blue tunic with short sleeves and dark blue trousers.

It was early evening and Claudus was in another one of his moods. The only one to soothe him was his close friend, Jaga. Despite there being a twenty year gap between the two, Claudus found Jaga to be a highly valued confidante.

Jaga sat there, chuckling inwardly at seeing his friend like this. Claudus reminded him of a caged tiger - or in Claudus's case, a caged lion - pacing restlessly its cage. It amused to him to say the least. The Cleric stroked his beard.

"Are there any Cats you have in mind?" The old Jaguar asked, watching Claudus now shuffling papers around on his desk.

The King stopped what he was doing, slipping into a mindless trance momentarily, shifting through the names of female Cats he once knew. He shook his head a minute later. "No, I can only think of Leona's old friends, but they're all married."

"What about Amelia?" Jaga asked a second later after searching his own mind. He saw his Lord stop again. The Lion's body became tense. Jaga decided to continue, but only to test the waters of the idea onto his friend. "You two seem to get along swimmingly."

Claudus found himself almost trembling. His heart pounded in his chest at the mere mentioning of his sons' nursemaid. Amelia had been hired during the last trimester of Leona's pregnancy and as a potential wet nurse should anything happen to his beloved Queen and by Thundera something did happen. It was as though Leona knew something was going to happen to her.

The King glanced back at Jaga, an uncomfortable silence taking place. "There are laws about Royalty and Nobles marrying each other only..."

Jaga chuckled again. "If I remember correctly, Leona wasn't a Noble."

Again his heart jumped.

_Of course Leona had been the daughter of a merchant, or a farmer, and..._

Claudus shook his head. "I was young... foolish..." He said to more to himself than to Jaga, "Besides, she..." The King's words were cut off as there was a knock at the door.

As if he knew who it was, Jaga rose from his seat to answer the door. A young snow leopard woman stood there in the doorway. Her long white mane speckled with a few spots was tied in a loose braid that hung about the crook of her neck. Her entire body was covered in light grey fur with dark spots dotting her back and the back of her arms and legs. She wore a silver gown that seem to accentuate her body quite well.

Claudus had to look away as the female Cat spoke.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" The nursemaid asked, her eyes darting from Jaga to Claudus and back again

Jaga chuckled for the third time and smiled. "Of course not, Amelia, come in, come in. Lord Claudus and I were finishing up here." The Cleric said, stepping to the side to allow Amelia to enter. He then looked back at his king and smiled once more, "I believe you can resolve the matter with Amelia's help, my Lord."

"Jaga? Jaga, wait!" But the old Cat was already gone, leaving the flustered King alone with the nursemaid. He sighed, running a hand through his red mane before gesturing for Amelia to sit.

"I'm sorry, Claudus, I didn't mean to interrupt your meeting with Sir Jaga." Amelia replied, feeling a bit flustered herself. She didn't want to bother her King, but she had no other choice. Her charges - that is to say - the youngest one drove her to seeking out the King's counsel.

Claudus just shook his head, forcing himself to smile. "Nonsense, Amelia, Jaga has the tendency to be crafty, but that is how Clerics are... sometimes." He said the last part a bit weakly, but immediately dismissed the thought and focused his attention on sons' caretaker.

Amelia seemed a bit bothered, tense, as she clenched her clawed hands against the front of her dress while remaining standing. "I didn't want to come here, but I had no other choice, your majesty." She said softly.

Claudus took a mental note of the female's strained voice. He kept up a polite, indifferent mask, without coming off as too detached. At least he hope he was showing enough concern without coming off as being weak.

_What am I thinking?_ The King thought, but he nodded at Amelia's words.

"And what has Tygra done now?" He asked. Knowing his adopted son, young Tygra might have pinched baby Lion-O's cheek during nap time or maybe he said something mean to Amelia.

_Goddess help me if my tiger of a son said something mean to her again._

Amelia bit her lip, the tip of her left canine showing. He found it quite endearing how pretty she looked when she was nervous. Claudus frowned at the thought. What was he thinking?

"It's not Tygra this time, my lord. It's baby Lion-O," Amelia said quietly, "he's becoming hard to handle now."

Claudus finally met her eyes, his body going rigid. "Lion-O you say?" Sweet baby Lion-O, who is only a year old, did something to drive his nursemaid to tears? What did he do?

"Yes, sir." Amelia stammered. She knew that if anyone spoke ill of the Royals, there would be consequences, but Amelia wasn't just a random Cat. She is the caretaker of the Princes and if something bad happened with or to her charges, she had to report it to the King himself.

Claudus gave a resigned sigh, massaging his temples. "Are the boys in their nursery?"

"Yes, sir, your Majesty."

"Take me to them." Claudus replied and Amelia rose form her chair, as did he, the two of them walking out of the King's study.

Jaga appeared out of the shadows, a smile on his face. "I'm sorry to have tricked you, old friend. But it is the Queen's will that you find love again."

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><p><strong>Hina:<strong> I had this idea while watching Thundercats one day. It's going to be a Claudus/OC story if you hadn't figured it out by now. XD Thanks for reading.


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